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White Thunder and the Margerie Glacier

One our 2nd day at sea, we sailed up Glacier Bay which is part of Glacier Bay National Park. We saw 4 glaciers, but the Margerie Glacier was the most exciting.

I just got back from an amazing trip. Our entire family - my mom and dad, my brother's family, my family, and my sister's family - went on a week long cruise to Alaska. We sailed the "Inside Passage" and visited Skagway , Glacier Bay, Juneau, and Ketichan. It was our first cruise. I ate way too much! The sites were fantastic! We got back yesterday, but I still feel like I am on a boat - very strange!

New House Guest

Did you ever feel like your house had a revolving front door? In the last few weeks, one daughter (Thing 1) has moved out, and one daughter (Thing 2) has moved in. Thing 1 is now living on her own and paying her own bills! Yahoo! She has successfully left our nest, but is still close enough to see frequently. Thing 2 moved in with all her bags and boxes, and enrolled herself at Collin County Community College. She is taking this next school year to decide what to pursue as a career. She is on the 5 year degree plan! : ) When Thing 2 moved back home, she brought along her cat. I like cats and have had fun watching him silently explore the house. He is a little shy, but he is slowly warming up to Allan and I. Lately, he joins me in the morning when I am doing the sudoko puzzle in the newspaper. He brazenly jumps on the table and pushes himself into the newspaper so that I must stop what I am doing and play with him. I think I will start doing my puzzle in the living room!

Outside My Window

My desk sits beside a window that looks out to the backyard. Lately, I have been spending more time looking out the window than at the items on my desk because the Hummingbird Bush is in bloom. I get many visitors throughout the day. I am fascinated by them. They have really tiny legs and feet! I planted Hummingbird Bush 2 years ago in another spot in my garden. These bushes outside my window came up from seeds from the original bush. It blooms in late June and continues until there is a freeze. It comes back every year, and grows in mounded 2-3 foot spires.

What Kind of Mother Am I?

An interesting thing happened on Father's Day. I noticed changes in my two daughters I call Thing 1(oldest) and Thing 2 (youngest), and I learn some things about myself. On this Father's Day, my daughters and I were going to try to make sweet potato fries as a side-dish for the special meal. My family is not a fan of sweet potatoes, but we can scarf a plate full of those fries. We were eager to begin...

To make the fries, we had to peel the potatoes, then cut them into fries. I was excited to use my new mandolin cutter that would cut the potatoes instantly into fries. My husband cautioned me about using the mandolin on the sweet potatoes because they were tougher than regular potatoes. He suggested cutting them the regular way with a knife. I assured him I would be careful, and I was, sort of. So ...

We started with step 1 - peel the potatoes. Two of us, myself and Thing 2, were armed with paring knives, and Thing 1 opted for a peeler (she always was a cautious child). We peeled most of the potatoes and had started on step two - cutting the potatoes on the mandolin - when the first accident happened.

Now, before I explain the accident, let me tell you, you can cut sweet potatoes on the mandolin. You have to use a holder for the potato as you cut, and keep your fingers away from all of the blades. I did notice that my husband was right about the toughness of sweet potatoes. I had to push hard on the holder with the potato as I pushed it across the blades.

Now back to the accident. I had already cut some fries when Thing 2 let out a very controlled "Oh!" I looked over and saw blood coming from the palm of her hand. She said, once again very controlled, "I stabbed myself with the knife as I was peeling the potato. It kind of hurts. Ew, it's kind of deep. What should I do?" I was so amazed at how composed she was as she watched herself bleed from a gash. I thought back to when she was a youngster of 5 or 6 and I would chase her around the house with a brush just to brush her hair. She was known as the one with a low tolerance for pain! I took her to the bathroom and helped her clean and bandage her wound and returned to the kitchen to find Thing 1 ready to take up the sweet potato cutting on the mandolin. No problem I thought, this is my tough kid.

She makes a few cuts, then oops! She cut herself across the knuckles of three fingers. She hops around the kitchen vigorously shaking her hand and spraying blood across the kitchen island counter. All the while crying out "AHHHH! That hurts! That hurts! That hurts! AHHHHHH!" I'm thinking oh dear, it's ER time! I get her over to the sink to wash off her fingers. One of the cuts looks deep, and I ask her (she is a nurse BTW) do you think we need to go to the ER? She is laughing and crying at the same time "What's happening to us? First, sister gets cut and now I am cut too!" I think she is going to be ok, but she is walking/hopping around the kitchen holding her hand in a bloody paper towel laughing and crying saying how much it hurts. I have never seen her act this way. This is my tough child who does not feel pain that we ordinary citizens feel. When she was little, I took her to the doctor because she was a little fussy. Turns out, she had a ruptured ear drum from an ear infection! She is the nurse who is supposed to know if she needs emergency help.

Well, when the blood finally stopped flowing I noticed that my two daughters had switched roles. Thing 1 is now the weenie and the worst patient, and Thing 2 is now the master of her pain.

I also noticed a few things about myself.
What kind of mother am I to laugh at this?

I should teach my daughters how to use sharp instruments in the kitchen.

Gee, my husband was right about those sweet potatoes and the mandolin.

Will blood on sweet potatoes wash off?

My husband should appreciate these precious sweet potato fries for his Father's Day meal -made from the blood, sweat and tears of his daughters (and he did).

Too Much Information

I took Thing 1 to her doctor this morning. She was not feeling well, and looked like she needed someone to take her. On our way to the doctor's office, I asked her what she thought was wrong. She, by the way, is a newbie RN at a children's hospital in Dallas. She was worried she had osteomyelitis from the bad cut she sustained on her finger during a Father's Day meal prep accident. (More on that later.) I'm not sure I spelled that word correctly, and I didn't know what it meant until I asked her. What is osteoblahblahblah? She said it is an infection of the bone and she works with some patients that have it and MRSA. She assured me she uses proper precautions when she works with patients with infectious diseases, but she was still worried, so thus, I was worried too. At this point, she reminded me of the time she called me frantically on the phone, sure she was suffering from meningitis. "Go to the emergency room ASAP if you feel that this is what you have!", I told her. She went promptly and found out that she had a bad case of strep throat, not meningitis. In her phone call to me, she sheepishly explained that she had recently been studying meningitis, and other diseases that effect the nervous system, in her nursing classes. "I guess I had too much information, mom." Hmm, yes, I think so. Perhaps this is the case today????

Now, after this doctor's appointment, we find out that she has a sinus infection, not osteomyelitis! We both giggled at that. Yes, it is possible to have too much information! When she is feeling better, I will tell her about the time I was taking an Abnomal Psychology class, and I was sure I had the symptoms of being bipolar AND some sort of schizphrenia!

Customized with Help

Thing 2 came over today to help me customize my blog page. She showed me how to change the background and add gadgets. I love the fish bowl! I keep expecting to see the fish grow as I feed them. Also, I added some summer tunes. Check them out. I am currently hooked on Have Love, Will Travel by the Sonics. It's not really a song about summer, but I heard a piece of it in a movie recently, and had to find out what it was. Did you know if you Google a line or a few words of the lyrics, you can find a song? Amazing use for the internet! You can add your songs to the play list. What are you listening to this summer?

A Beginning

This is a little weird. I'm not used to communicating in this way. I am old school and feel more comfortable talking face to face. I have joined a book study on creating blogs, wikis and podcasts for educational uses. Our assignment this week is to create a personal interest blog. Well, I have interests, but are they interesting enough to tell others about? We'll see...I will use this format to share a few things about myself and family. I think I may need to call for help from my resident techno-pros - thing 1 and thing 2.